How it all started
by Indiana Jackson
Summary: how Khory came to join SG-23


**Disclaimer: I dont own stargate. (more's the pity )**

**Characters:**

**Major Leona Topthorn. a small red headed woman with blue eyes.**

**Captain James "Jamie" Alexander: a black haired, green eyed irish man**

**Khory Johansson: A tall, Blonde haired, blue eyed alien woman with blue dots across her brow and under her eyes.**

SG-10 was taking heavy fire, and it was all their leaders fault. When they had come through the gate yesterday morning, everything seemed fine. The planet was nearing the middle of winter but wasn't breath stealing cold. They were greeted at the gate by a group of locals that looked suspiciously like the ancient vikings. the teams translator and 2nd in command had done the patented 'we're peacefull explorers' speech in what sounded like old norse. The leader of the group, a tall red haired and bushy bearded man had smiled at them from under his fur hood. He welcomed them into the village great hall where they were surprised to learn that some of them spoke passable english.

Sg-10's leader, Colonel Marsden, had been his usual pompous self and insulted the Clan Leader almost immediatly after they got settled on the benches around the fire. How that man got to be in charge, Major Leona Topthorn didnt know. The 2nd in command, Major McGowen, had smoothed things out and they had been shown where they could sleep for their stay.

Leona had spent the day talking to the people, and had learned that the locals called their planet Midgard, and the Asgardians were their gods. Leona and Captain James Alexander watched from the door of the great hall as again the Colonel insulted somebody. This time it was a tall woman with long blonde hair, ice blue eyes and a pattern of teal dots around her eyes. The woman camly smiled at the colonel then proceeded to push him into a snow bank before stalking off.

The rest of the short day passed uneventfully with most of the locals somehow managing to avoid the colonel. the fool didnt even notice the subtle animosity towards him. The next morning they were being shown the archives when the trouble started. A local had come rushing in and told them that several large men had come through the gate and were demanding all the villagers go to the square. of course colonel Marsden had ordered his team out there to confront what was obviously a jaffa squad.

He had the audacity to walk right up to the leader, a man that could make a linebacker cry, and demand they leave. The leader had just smiled and proceeded to blow the colonels head off. poof. just like that, dead. The villagers scattered when the brains hit the wall so to speak, and ran for it. The rest of Sg-10 ran too, but Major McGowen had gotten shot with a staff weapon as he ducked around a corner. Leaving Major Topthorn and Captain Alexander in the situation they were in now. Stuck behind a downed statue of Heimdall, with five Villagers and getting shot at.

0o0

Leona peered around the statues feet at the four remaining jaffa. they knew they couldn't get at the people behind the statue, so they had resorted to taking pot shots at anything that stuck out. between her, major alexander, and surprisingly the blonde woman, they had reduced the jaffa from eight to four. There were losses on both sides as the blood stained snow attested to. Leona pulled her head back as a staff blast hit the statue behind her.

"Right, Jamie, can i call ya Jamie? what do you think our odds are of me and Khory here getting around behind them?" Leona asked as she indicated the woman beside her, steadily and accurately firing bits of broken masonry at the jaffa. She howled triumphantly as a peice got a jaffa in the forehead.

"better, now that there are only three. but im outta ammo." Jamie sighed as he swung his gun around behind him.

"me too, thats why i suggested it. if we can get behind, Khory can use that whopping big dagger of hers, and i can use my knife." Leona said as she peeked again. Another staff blast hit the side of the pedestal, causing it to shatter and send shards of masonry flying. two villagers fell as the broken masonry hit them. Leona gasped as a big shard stuck in her side.

"Jamie, you've gotta get them outta here somehow, and you've gotta do it quick before i bleed to death." Leona said as she pulled her hand away from her side to show him a blood covered palm. "We got this, go."

Khory ripped a strip of fabric off one of the dead villagers, and filling it with snow, tied it over Leona's wound. "it should make the blood run slower, for a little while."

She turned to the villagers and said something quickly in her own tounge. a black haired man shook his head vehemently and pointed at Leona. khory slapped him hard enough to rock him back and repeated what she said. the man slowly nodded and looked at Jamie. Leona grimaced in confusion.

"what was that?"

"i told them to do exactly what Major Alexander said, that we were going after the jaffa. Erick argued and i slapped him. I dont have time to be nice."

Jamie slid off in between two snow drifts as the villagers copied his movements. Leona and Khory pitched masonry at the jaffa to distract them and cover the retreat. when jamie and all the villagers were gone, khory looked at the red haired woman beside her. " we're not going around behind them are we?"

"you are but im not. I dont think i can go that far now that I've got a piece of statuary stuck in my side. ill keeping throwing things at them while you slip around behind. " Leona grimaced as she leaned back against the statues knees. Khory gave a sharp nod and pulled a large dagger from a belt sheath and slipped off.

Jamie made it to the gate after seeing the last of the villagers had got away. he pounded the symbols in for earth, and radioed in then waited for confirmation that help was coming then carefully made his way back to the Heimdall statue. He found Leona lying nearly unconscious in the snow against the statue and no Khory. "Major, wake up, come on now. where's the big woman?" he gently asked in his soft irish accent.

"she's over- over there. think she's shot." the major gasped out as the little irish Captain sat her upright. He looked over the statue in the direction the Major had indicated. "i'll be right back, you hold on, ok?"

he carefully went over to where the jaffa had been. he saw three with their throats slashed, but no sign of Khory. A soft groan off to his left sent him on high alert. he picked up a rock and toed the big jaffa. he didnt move but the blond woman just beyond him did. Jamie dropped the rock and rolled her over onto her back. Khory screamed in agony as her burnt back touched the cold snow. Jamie lifted her up and saw that a staff blast had grazed the top of her left shoulder.

"i got the three, but the one i brained was only playing dead. he shot me when i went to go back to the Major." She said through clenched teeth.

"ach your lucky darling, any lower and you'd be singing with the heavenly host." Jamie smiled as he helped her stand. " just lean on me, and we'll take you over to the major."

they hobbled across the bloody clearing to Leona, as an SG team and med team burst out of the trees surrounding the gate. Half of them split off to check the dead jaffa, while the other half went onto the village when Jaime waved them off saying they had missed all the fun. The med team put Khory on her stomach on one stretcher, and Leona on another and ran for the gate.

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Leona hissed in pain as her hospital bed was wheeled into the infirmary then sighed with relief as she was placed next to Khory. The blonde woman turned her head to look at Leona, even though it made her shoulder burn in agony to do it.

"thank you for saving my people. " she smiled as she laid on her stomach.

"least i could do after the colonel messed everything up royally. "

Dr Janet Fraiser came around the curtain with General Hammond in tow.

"Khory, your not allowed to roll over till your shoulder heals, and you, you major are not allowed to do anything till there's no danger of bursting your stitches." the little power monger stated as she checked the charts before leaving.

"while you were in surgery, Captain Alexander gave his report. when your up to it, ill take yours too. You will both be getting a promotion for your acts in the field." the General smiled and then turned to leave. He stopped in the doorway and said, "oh, and Major Topthorn? your being given command of your own squad. we'll go over the files when your better."

"looks like we're stuck here for a while. so I gotta ask, what's with that fancy dagger you got." Leona asked.

"it's my Valkyrie dagger."

"Valkyrie?"

"being a Valkyrie is the highest honor a woman can recieve on Midgard. you have to earn it."

"what does a Valkyrie do exactly?"

"in our legends, the Valkyries, the real ones, would swoop down and take the men who had died with honor. the queen of the underworld would snatch the ones deemed unfit for the hall of the gods. the Valkyries now, the ones like me,they fight with the men and help those near death on their journey. we speed them on their way."

"how?"

"we slit their throats."

"oh,um Im sure they appreciate that." the pair were silent for a while before Khory spoke.

"how did you come to speak my language?"

"captain Alexander, they guy that helped the villagers get away? he taught me. we were laid up in here for a few weeks because of a virus and I was driving him insane. so to preserve his sanity, he started teaching me old norse. which just happens to be close to your language. funny how that works, huh? anyway, now when were stuck in the infirmary together or on a long mission he teaches me." Leona shifted and sat a little higher up the bed. "so what are the dots around your eyes for?"

"Honor Marks. you get a new one for acts of valor. some put them on their legs or arms. some choose their back, chest or hands."

"you've got," she stopped to counts the marks, "19. is that alot?"

Khory laughed then hissed as her shoulder pulled with the movement. "no my father had one whole arm done. he had to earn his place as chief of our tribe."

"why are some larger than the rest?"

"the small ones are for individual acts and the three large ones were earned in battle."

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"General, I would like Major Alexander for my second in command. Sir, is it also possible to have the Midgard woman, Khory Johansson, as well? she doesn't want to go back since her father was one of the villagers killed. she said she'll go through whatever tests we want her to." The newly appointed leader of SG-23 asked as she stood in Hammonds office two weeks later. "we did a lot of talking while we were stuck in the infirmary . she's an honorable person, and one hell of a shot with a rock, sir."

"I dont see why not, you and Major Alexander were on the same squad already. He knows you and trust's your leadership. The woman will have to go through the recruit program. for now she can stay in your quarters with you. " Hammond smiled and shooed her off. "Dismissed, Go for lunch Colonel."

SG-23 was on its way. It started small, just Leona, Jamie and Khory, but it would grow soon enough.


End file.
